A Taste of Everyday -- Chapter 4

Disclaimer: The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Zane, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me. No money is being made off of this fic. I only own the original characters (Rena/X5-120, etc.).

“Thanks for dinner, Vincent and Brianne,” I said as we walked to the car in the restaurant parking lot. “I love Chinese food.”

“You’re welcome, Janie,” Vincent said. “We’ve got a cake and a few presents for you to open when we get home.”

“Cool,” I commented.

We got in the car and we started to head back to the house. “Don’t worry, Janie, we didn’t give you less presents because your birthday and Christmas are as close together as they are,” Brianne teased.

“I’m not worried…much,” I said. The three of us laughed. “It’ll be fine.”

“Just curious, what did you get for your last birthday?” Vincent asked.

I pretended to think about it. When Zane and I had finally celebrated my actual twelfth birthday, he got me this really sweet knife. I’d seen it and loved it when we’d broken into a store to arm ourselves the week before, though I didn’t think that I’d have time to grab it before we had to get out of there, so I left it. We’d been in the store that night because we’d only managed to have one gun between us prior to then, and Zane managed to lose it when we were downtown earlier that day. He actually put it in the wrong bag because he was looking at something else and when he realized he’d put the gun in someone else’s bag, it was too late and I was pretty close to beating the hell out of him. The knife was hidden in this little safe that’s in my closet with my nine millimeter pistol. Vincent and Brianne know that I have a safe in my closet, but they don’t know what’s in there. If they had a clue, holy crap, they would freak out!

“My dad got me a discman and my mom gave me some clothes that I hated,” I finally replied. “My mom always gave practical presents and I guess it wouldn’t have been so bad if she hadn’t always picked out clothes that I didn’t like even after I would tell her that I don’t like that style or that color.” I was quiet. “I miss them. I’d be happy complaining about it again.”

“I know what you mean,” Brianne said sympathetically. “It’ll be okay, Janie. I know it still hasn’t been that long since your parents died.”

We pulled up into the driveway at home. Vincent stopped the car and turned off the engine. “Would you two mind waiting for me out here for a moment? I need to check on something first.”

“Sure, honey, go right ahead,” Brianne said. Vincent gave her a kiss and he took off his seat belt and got out of the car and went into the house. I knew something was going on. They were going to throw a surprise party for me. The curtains were closed so even I couldn’t see people inside the house, but I could definitely hear them. I guess surprise parties for an X5 don’t work unless it’s other X5s that are throwing the party. Vincent came back out a few moments later and Brianne and I took off our seatbelts and went inside the house.

“Surprise! Happy birthday, Janie!”

Wow, I guess surprise parties do work for an X5! I heard everybody inside the house, but it still blew my mind to actually see it. There was a ‘Happy Birthday’ banner stretched across the living room and Vanessa and Nancy were there and a few kids that I recognized from school and some adults that I didn’t know. I saw presents piled in a corner and balloons and streamers and…

“This is so cool!” I exclaimed.

“I’m so glad that you like it,” Brianne said. She gave me a hug. “Janie, I want you to meet Lance and Allison. Lance works with Vincent and Allison is his wife.”

“How are you?” I said politely. “Thank you for this.”

“It was our pleasure, Janie,” Lance said. “These are our kids, Lee Anne and Rick. They go to the same school that you do, I think. Lee Anne is in your grade.”

“Yeah, you’re in my French and math classes, right?” I recalled.

“Yep,” Lee Anne said. “I sit two rows ahead of you in French.”

“This is my sister, Sandra,” Brianne said. “And this is her son, Tim.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I told them. “Brianne talks about you a lot.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Sandra said. “Brianne has been telling me so much about you these past few weeks.”

“Hi,” I said to Tim. He looked like a nice enough kid.

“Hi,” Tim echoed. He hid behind Sandra’s legs and Sandra and Brianne laughed.

“He’s very shy,” Sandra said. “He’ll probably grow out of it eventually.”

“Probably,” I agreed. Hey, if Brin could grow out of shyness, I bet Tim can as well. Brin used to be incredibly shy when we were younger and we were off-duty. When she was Tim’s age, she could barely make eye contact with people that weren’t in our family if somebody came up to us during meal or rec time. She only seriously grew out of it about a year before we escaped.

“Oh birthday girl…” Vincent said. I turned around and my jaw dropped when I saw Vincent coming into the living room from the kitchen holding a big cake on a tray, the kind that Zane and I had only talked and dreamt about eating. He put the cake down on the coffee table and motioned me over and everybody started to sing ‘Happy Birthday.’ I was just stunned. Good stunned. Was this really happening? Am I really the girl that everybody is singing to?

“Make a wish and blow out the candles, Janie,” Brianne instructed.

“Okay,” I said. I knew exactly what I would wish for. I thought of it, blew out the candles, and everybody clapped.

“I’ve got a camera,” Lance said. He held out a Polaroid camera. “Vincent, Brianne, why don’t the two of you get behind Janie? That’s perfect! On the count of three, you guys smile and say ‘cheese.’ One…two…three…”

“Cheese,” I said, a huge smile on my face. I felt like that smile would stay on my face for a long time.

TBC